BT! dumps! Yahoo! after! 10! long! years! together!

Sorry Marissa, but news and email? We can go elsewhere for that...

BT is ditching Yahoo! after 10 years to take up with US firm Critical Path, which will supply email services on the new BT.com.

The telco said it was switching its broadband customers over to the new BT Mail service as part of the relaunch of BT.com, breaking up with Yahoo! and axing the BT Yahoo! portal at the same time.

BT had already announced that it would be revamping its site, putting "breaking news and simple access to email" together with user account and billing info from next month. The Press Association will be taking over the news service, cutting Yahoo! off from millions of Brits.

The Purple Palace may be somewhat mollified by having a new contract to provide email services to Sky customers, although that won't replace the enforced eyes on its portal that it was getting from the BT deal.

BT wouldn't give The Reg any reason for binning Yahoo!, other than to say that it was "always looking for ways to improve and develop products and services".

"We want to give customers a website where everything is in one place. BT Mail will be more closely integrated with BT.com and customers will only need a single identity - the BT ID - to sign in to email and to other services on BT.com," a spokesperson said.

The telco said that the BT Yahoo! portal would close over the summer and customers would be moved to BT Mail later this year. ®